My love of everything gaudy may have hit an all time high
(or low depending how you look at it).

I had a muted, dull colored Martha Stewart shower curtain.
See below.

It's never really been my style.

I usually like things bright and cheery. So I took down the dull Martha Stewart and replaced it with this $15.99 Walmart "so bright it's blinding" shower curtain.

When you walk by this bathroom now, it's almost startling. But...hey it wasn't expensive and I can change it in a heartbeat if I decide I don't like it.

What do you guys think, has my love for gaud gone too far?

So, what do you think of my new blog colors?

I love spring and all the beautiful flowers and blooming trees. Here are some examples from Bo's yard.

Spring has sprung and I have proof! Check it out!

Got some cool pictures of Bo's barn today. Stopped in to say hey and see how the guys have been. Just happened to have my camera with me so I snapped a few shots.

Here they are!

Who doesn't love to relax in the bathtub? Wouldn't it be great if each of us had a spa tub with some soothing lights to soak in from time to time.....

WELL NOW Y OU TOO CAN HAVE SPA LIGHTS IN YOUR VERY OWN BATHTUB.

Check them out! I found them at:
http://www.prezzybox.com/products/index.aspx?pid=3780



















Here's what the website says about them:

Mood lighting can turn a relaxing soak in the tub into a indulgent, decadent treat. With handy suction cups and a waterproof body, these beautiful Spa Lights will transform bath time from lush to mega-lush.

Use the suction cup to attach Spa Lights to the sides of the bath or against the tiles in your shower and enjoy their warm yellow glow... alternatively let them float freely onto of the water for a more organic, oriental feel. Spa Lights come as a pack of two, and one set of batteries will give you a healthy 120 hours of relaxing, fun and beautiful lighting.

Hey everyone, Kellie is the newest blogger in the family!!! Check out her blog at:

http://kiwis-korner.blogspot.com/

Talk to you later!
Andrea

Has everyone heard of MENSA - the organization for the "exceptionally gifted" and so called "smart people"? Well I found the most hysterical thing on the net today.

It's called NotMensa - the Interplanetary Society for the Stupid! Some of their "slogans" are priceless.

Like:

• NotMensa - Are you stupid enough to join?
• NotMensa - The Place where it's ok to talk without thought

So I share this with a few of my most sarcastic co-workers. We decide we should take the IQ test to see if we are dumb enough to qualify for membership. http://www.mockery.org/notmensa/test.htm

I don't think I've laughed so hard in a LONG time! Maybe it was just the company I was with that made it exceptionally funny to me. Some of the questions were just ridiculously funny! Question number 10 caught me completely off guard!

Check it out if you need a good laugh!

So the other night, I'm stumbling into our dark bedroom...oh 'round 2:30 am when CRACK - my little toenail and the heel of Rich's "in the middle of my path - where they are not supposed to be" dress shoe meet in a quite untimely fashion.

"OW!!!" (and other un-named curse words) cross my lips in the darkened room.

Laying in bed, with what I think is a cracked toenail and feeling my heart beating in my toe, I think to myself...."I wish I had a toe light." Then my brain really kicked into 2:30 am insanity and came up with these ideas:

• A light toe ring. I don't know, not really into toe rings and how could I keep it on top of my toe, shining in the right direction?
• "An ankle strap flashlight?" Might cause me to exercize one calf more than the other..and who wants to lug that thing around? "This won't work", I think to myself.
• A robe with rope light in the hem. I don't wear robes and I don't plan to just so I can see at night on my way to bed. Plus rope lighting might weigh the robe down and the material from the robe will dull the lights. This isn't the answer.

Well, I found it. I found exactly what I need!

Houseslippers with headlights!!!!!!!

Check out this video to see them in action. These are for REAL!

http://www.brightfeetslippers.com/video/brightfeet.wmv

I can't tell you how many times I've been sitting here at my computer, cravin' up some good fondue but completely unwilling to tear myself away from the internet. Do I eat, do I surf...that is the question!!!

Well ask no more, people!!! Finally someone has come up with a USB powered Fondue pot! Goodbye hunger....hello Fondue!!

P.S. I don't think this is real...but I couldn't resist getting you all excited about computer-heated fondue!

THE GIFT OF THE YEAR!!!

CHEETOS FLAVORED LIP BALM

(I admit, I'm completely addicted to lipstick, lip balm etc...
I think I'll take a pass on this one however!)

Here are some pictures of the hail that hit our house just before 11pm tonight. It hailed so hard I thought out windows and skylights were going to crack!

Luckily I put my car and the truck in the garage so they didn't get damaged. That was some crazy hail storm!!

The storms tonight gave off quite a show. Wish I could have captured some of the sky to ground lightning but I was driving so....I decided not to take pictures and drive at the same time. I did stop long enough to get a couple of great shots at sunset. I'm calling these:

Two Storms that Pass in the Night:

Happy 14th Birthday Olivia!!

Hope you have so much fun you turn upside down!!

Party til you put your shoes on the wrong feet!!!!!

I get up for work at 6:30. Before Saturday night's time change, I always awoke to the beautiful sunrise and birdies singing. Now...thanks to Eastern Standard time, I get up in the dark. It looks like winter when I get up. I don't like it, people!

I wany my hour back!

Ever wonder which horrible affliction you are? I have...so I took this quick and easy online test to find out. http://rumandmonkey.com/widgets/tests/affliction/

Turns out, I'm rickets.

Whoda thunk?

Winter......It could have been worse!

In this photo provided by Steamboat Ski & Resort Corp., Michelle Baxter tackles some of the more than 400 inches of snow that have piled up during the season on the roof of Patrol HQ, at the Steamboat Ski Area in Colorado, Thursday, March 16, 2006. This is the fifth time the resort has reached the 400-inch cumulative snowfall milestone in the past 27 years and the first time since the 1997/98 ski season, according to the resort. (AP Photo/Steamboat Ski & Resort Corp., Larry Pierce)

A Bag Full

Here's the scoop....I think the pilot on the way to Vegas was either drunk or got some kind of sick pleasure out of hitting every air "pothole" in the sky. It was super windy so the ride to Vegas was freakin awful. Sounds like everyone who went out on Thursday had the same experience. I actually got sick 5 times - but never had to use the bag....just got sick, fought off as much as I could and what did come up I put it back down. I won't get much more graphic than that. That is unless y'all want me to.

The trip home was smoooooooth as silk! For some reason though Sunday, I had a head splitting headache - just one o' them things I guess!!

Hey folks, it's been a crAAAAAzy week for me. We got back from Vegas and Kellie's wedding, so here are some pics of the event! Also, finishing up work at RLS and preparing to move on to my new job!!! SCARY but exciting too.

Nothing says Vegas like WAYNE NEWTON




I took this picture of Kellie and thought it turned out great!



Got Kellie this cute little Flamingo ring in one of the gift shops at the Flamingo where we all stayed and where they got married


Put Kellie's shawl on Brian and Brian's jacket on Kellie on the walk back from dinner after the wedding.



I call this one Glow Worm Kellie - she's standing on one of the lights that shines up the trees outside one of the hotels.

Here are a few sunset pictures I took on the way to Bo's house tonight.

Hope you enjoy!

Today is my birthday....41 years old.

I still think I'm 21 years old...even 31 years old.

How can I possibly be FORTY ONE???

Anyway, happy, happy, happy birthday

to me, me, to me, to me,

ole!

Remember the Sir MixALot tune Baby Got Back?

Check out this remake by a preacher in Cleveland, Ohio. Saw a clip of it on VH1 Webjunk this weekend and got online to see the whole thing. It's great!!

I could go to this church!!!

(you'll need windows media player to view this)

http://www.whiteboydj.com/babygotbook.html

The 2/18/06 Winning Powerball Numbers Are:

15 17 43 44 48 Powerball: 29

Forget about opposites attracting!!

We like people who look like us, because they tend to have personalities similar to our own.

And, a new study suggests, the longer we are with someone, the more similarities in appearance grow.

Researchers set out to investigate why couples often tend to resemble one another. They asked 11 male and 11 female participants to judge the age, attractiveness and personality traits of 160 real-life married couples. Photographs of husbands and wives were viewed separately, so the participants didn't know who was married to whom.

The test participants rated men and woman who were actual couples as looking alike and having similar personalities. Also, the longer the couples had been together, the greater the perceived similarities.

The researchers speculate that the sharing of experiences might affect how couples look.

A biological reason

The idea that there is a connection between appearance and personality might seem odd at first, but there could be biological reasons for a link, said study member Tony Little from the University of Liverpool in England.

"Testosterone is linked to masculine face shapes and it also affects behavior," Little told LiveScience. "Also, the face displays our emotions and over time emotional expressions may become written in the face."

For example, someone who smiles a lot may develop lines and muscles that are suggestive of someone who is happy.

Other studies have shown that partners who are genetically similar to each other tend to have happier marriages. Similarities in personalities and physical features might be one way to gauge genetic similarity.

Smiles and eyes

The new study, to be detailed in the March issue of the journal Personality and Individual Differences, indicates that people home in on a variety of different features when using facial appearance to make decisions about someone's personality and that the particular cues focused on change from face to face. Vital to the decision, however, are eyes and smiles.

"Smiles are important social cues that may tell us whether or not someone is friendly and eyes are also a traditional focus of attention," Little said.

Overall face shape can be important too. For example, the combination of masculine features, large chins, and dominant brow ridges can create an impression of disagreeableness and being unwilling to cooperate, Little said.

The researchers are currently looking for people who are both single and in relationships to take part in an online study to investigate whether an individual's physical and personality traits influence their personal preferences.

More information can be found at www.alittlelab.com

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!

FREEBIES - FREEBIES - FREEBIES

http://walmart.triaddigital.com/Free-Samples.aspx

Simmering on my stove is a copy cat recipe of Pasta E Fagioli (from Olive Garden). It looks good. It looks like the stuff they serve at O.G. It smells quite yummy and I have to say, I really felt all Rachel Ray-y cooking it in there...throwing in a little EVOO and not measuring my spices. It was fun!

Kellie and Brian are coming over tomorrow night for supper so I made it for that. I'll cook it on the stove tonight and then warm it up tomorrow.

Will let you know how it turns out. So far so good!

Thank you to everyone!! You've given me new reasons to go to the grocery store again!

Here you can find recipes for some of your favorite restaurant food! (some of the recipes are free - some aren't)

In my quest to find new and exciting things to eat, I ran across this cool website:

http://www.topsecretrecipes.com/home.asp

I'm bored with food. I think I have an eating disorder.

I go to the grocery store and I wander up and down the isles aimlessly.

I know what I can get Rich that he'll eat and love...but I have no idea what to get for myself. So here's what happens, I end up with strawberry applesauce, cottage cheese, hawaiian rolls and welch's juice popcicles. When I get home at night, nothing sounds good, except Taco Bell. I'm surviving on this small variety of food, with little to no desire for anything else. It's been like this for several weeks now.

So here's what I need from you guys.....what are your favorite foods? What do you crave? What tastes good after a hard day's work?

I need help!

Found this cool 3D desktop picture at
www.3dcrew.com

Quite possibly one of the cutest babies currently on the planet....and he sings OPERA!

Prepare yourselves ..... there's another cute baby on the way!!

Where are all my peeps at?

Is blogging a thing of the past?
Am I behind the curve instead of ahead of the curve?
All my peeps have stopped bloggin' with me.

Blog detox is no fun!

New Buzz Words for 2006

1. BLAMESTORMING: Sitting around in a group discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed and who was responsible.

2. SEAGULL MANAGER: A manager who flies in, makes a lot of noise, craps on everything, then leaves.

3. SALMON DAY: The experience of spending an entire day swimming upstream only to get screwed and die in the end.

4. CUBE FARM: An office filled with cubicles.

5. PRAIRIE DOGGING: When someone yells or drops something loudly in a Cube Farm, and heads pop up over the walls to see what’s going on.

6. MOUSE POTATO: The on-line generation’s answer to the couch potato.

7. STRESS PUPPY: Someone who seems to thrive on being stressed out and whiny.

8. SWIPEOUT: An ATM or credit card that’s been rendered useless because the magnetic strip is worn away from extensive use.

9. IRRITAINMENT: Annoying entertainment and media spectacles that you can’t help watching: Bennifer, Michael Jackson, etc.

10. PERCUSSIVE MAINTENANCE: The fine art of whacking an electronic device to get it working again.

11. ADMINISPHERE: Rarefied organizational layers, beginning just above rank and file, from which confounding decisions fall.

12. GENERICA: Features of the American landscape that are exactly the same no matter where you are, including fast-food joints, strip malls and subdivisions.

13. OHNOSECOND: That minuscule fraction of time in which you realize you’ve just made a BIG mistake, such as hitting “send” on an e-mail you shouldn’t have (see E-mail Etiquette category).

14. WOOFS: Well-Off Older Folks.

Need I say more?

My Giant Easy Bake Oven.....The SET IT AND FORGET IT

I got Rich the Ronco Set it and Forget it Countertop Rotisserie. WE LOVE IT! Of course that's no surprise - we love all "As seen on TV" things. This little rotisserie can cook up a chicken breast (thigh, leg, whatever) in less than an hour! AND ..... flavor you ask? Well it's GREAT!!!!

In fact, I think the Set it and Forget it is just a giant easy bake oven. As you can see from this picture, there's an electric thing in the back that heats up and that's what cooks your food. A light comes on so you can constantly see how it's doing.

If you're looking for a quick way to cook food and still have tons of flavor - you need the set it and forget it!

Here are some of the worst--and funny!--real-life examples of resume typos published by Rinkworks.com:*

"I am very detail-oreinted."
* "I have a bachelorette degree in computers."
* "Excellent memory; strong math aptitude; excellent memory; effective management skills; and very good at math."
* "I worked as a Corporate Lesion."
* "Served as assistant sore manager."
* "Special skills: Thyping."
* "I have exhaustive experience in manufacturing."
* "I have used lots of software appilcations."
* "Objection: To utilize my skills in sales."
* "I am quick at typing, about 25 words per minute."
* "I am a rabid typist."
* "Skills: Operated Pitney Bones machine."
* "Strengths: Ability to meet deadlines while maintaining composer."
* "Education: B.A. in Loberal Arts."
* "Work Experience: Dealing with customers' conflicts that arouse."
* "Education: College, August 1880 - May 1984."
* "Typing Speed: 756 wpm."
* "Work History: Performed brain wave tests, 1879-1981."
* "Accomplishments: Completed 11 years of high school."
* "Thank you for your consideration. Hope to hear from you shorty!"
* "Enclosed is a ruff draft of my resume."
* "I am sicking and entry-level position."
* "I am a quick leaner, dependable, and motivated."
* "My salary requirement is $34 per year."
* "Married, eight children. Prefer frequent travel."
* "Graduated in the top 66% of my class."
* "Reason for leaving last job: Pushed aside so the vice president's girlfriend could steal my job."
* "Special skills: Experienced with numerous office machines and can make great lattes."
* "It's best for employers that I not work with people."
* "Objective: To have my skills and ethics challenged on a daily basis."
* "Experience: Watered, groomed, and fed the family dog for years."
* "Special skills: I've got a Ph.D. in human feelings."
* "My contributions on product launches were based on dreams that I had."
* "Previous experience: Self-employed -- a fiasco."
* "Work history: Bum. Abandoned belongings and led nomadic lifestyle."
* "Reason for leaving last job: The owner gave new meaning to the word 'paranoia.' I prefer to elaborate privately."
* "Extensive background in public accounting. I can also stand on my head!"
* "Exposure to German for two years, but many words are inappropriate for business."
* "My fortune cookie said, 'Your next interview will result in a job' -- and I like your company in particular."

Billions of throats across the globe to go tragically unsoothed!!!

According to one of my favorite websites for sarcastic news.....You won't believe this! The Swiss have gone too far!!! They are Threatening a Ricola Embargo!!!!!!

Yes you know.......Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiicoooooolaaaaaaaaaaa!

www.theonion.com reports:

Swiss Threaten Ricola Embargo
January 4, 2006
BERN, SWITZERLAND

Angered by rising international tariffs against his nation, Swiss president Gunter Klima threatened a worldwide Ricola embargo Tuesday. "If these unfair tariffs are not lifted," Klima said, "we will have no choice but to withhold our natural Alpine-herb throat lozenges, causing billions of throats across the globe to go tragically unsoothed." An estimated 2.1 billion people rely on Swiss menthol for their throat-calming needs.

Are you one of the 49,000 American's

injured by their toilet every year?

You need the Johnny Lite!!!

Watch the Johnny Light Video!!
http://209.242.151.8/rbj/JohnnyLightSmall.wmv

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!!!!

HERE'S TO A SUCCESSFUL 2006 FOR ALL OF US!

You won't believe this...check it out! I want one!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/?v=vwl98dU0kY8

I finally heard it clearly. The subtle voices coming over my computer speakers that scare the crap out of me while I'm sitting here working away at night are that of EWTN Global Catholic Radio!

How the heck am I picking up a catholic radio station in my computer speakers???

Time to make our resolutions....

Anyone going to make (and not break) a resolution or two this year?

Ho!Ho!Ho!

Santa's getting closer!!

Check out NORAD's Santa Tracker:

http://www.noradsanta.org/en/map/index.php

(thanks Rosie for sending me the link)

Pa. Community Celebrates Festivus

Fri Dec 23, 7:05 PM ET

ERIE, Pa. - The celebration of Festivus is alive and well in northwestern Pennsylvania, nearly a decade after the bizarre "holiday" garnered pop culture notoriety on "Seinfeld."

Residents were preparing to celebrate "the festivus for the rest of us" Friday with a night of airing grievances, feats of strength and, of course, the aluminum Festivus pole.

"It's all in good fun," said Jeff Boam, 36, a math teacher from Millcreek Township and longtime "Seinfeld" fan.

"More than anything else, it's a great excuse to get together with friends and have outrageous fun," said George Klapsinos, 38, a senior technical service specialist for Lord Corp.

Many people learned of Festivus through "Seinfeld," but its roots actually go back several decades, when writer Daniel O'Keefe's father started it. He was looking for something more from the holidays, something that wasn't political or religious.

O'Keefe wrote "The Real Festivus: The True Story Behind America's Favorite Made-Up Holiday" and co-wrote the "Seinfeld" episode.

In the episode, Frank Costanza, played by actor Jerry Stiller, comes up with the idea for a new holiday after struggling in a tug-of-war for a doll at a toy store.
Festivus' "traditions" differ from those of Christmas.

Instead of a tree, Festivus followers celebrate around a metal pole. Boam's Festivus pole is 6 feet tall and rooted in bucket of cement.

"No tinsel, no ornaments. Nothing should go on it. It should be bare," Boam said.

Guests also grab the pole and fume about how others have disappointed them in the past year.

"One year, we had a blizzard on the night of the party," Klapsinos said. "So we grieved about everyone who said they were going to show up but didn't. I mean, we made it, right?"
Finally, the festival features feats of strength.

"This usually means wrestling," said Jack Munch, a real-estate broker. "I've seen parties where it deteriorates into five people wrestling in the snow in the backyard. The whole thing is a blast. You never know what's going to happen on Festivus."
___
Information from: Erie Times-News, http://www.goerie.com